Liberals Have Been Pushing the Electric Car for a Hundred Years

RUSH: "Electric cars are all the rage. Last Sunday's New York Times contained a long profile of Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind Tesla Motors, the startup that has produced about 1,000 electric sports cars. On Tuesday, the news was dominated by the announcement of the sticker price ($41,000) of the new Chevrolet Volt. And late Tuesday," the same day, "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced a scaled-back energy bill that promises some $400 million in new subsidies for the electric-car business" in addition to whatever else General Motors has been already been given.

They don't have the time or the votes for cap and trade, so now they're gonna go back and "scale back" the energy bill, and in that scaled back bill, there's $400 million new dollars in subsidies for the electric car business. "That money will be added to the several billion dollars that the federal government has already committed to electric-car development and production. But amid all of the hype, the essential question is obvious: Why is the government throwing so much money at a technology that shows so little promise? The electric-car industry has a century-long history of failure tailgating failure." This is Mr. Robert Bryce at the Daily Beast, TheDailyBeast.com. "The electric-car industry has a century-long history of failure tailgating failure. And yet we are being told that this time things are different," just like this time socialism is gonna work.

We are the people we've been waiting for. This time we've got people that know how to implement socialism. This time we know how to do it. We have the right people, here. We finally have the right kind of money. This time the electric car is going to work. "[T]he technologies are better, the batteries are better..." By the way... (sigh) I'll preface this: I don't want General Motors to fail. Don't anybody misunderstand this. Do you know where they're building the batteries for the Volt? They're building the batteries in South Korea. All these "jobs" Obama's touting as he goes to his own automobile companies today? All of these jobs that we are saving and creating? They're building the batteries in South Korea. Wanna know why? It's dangerous!

There's a lotta toxic and hazardous material in these batteries. If something goes wrong, people can get sick. That's not good, so let the South Koreans get sick, and we'll build up their economy. So the battery's being built over there. But we're told the batteries are better now. (sigh) Forty miles to the charge. Who ever...? Did you ever think...? If I were Jay Leno that would be a great punch line for a monologue. "Oh, yeah, see Obama's new car? It gets 40 miles to the charge." Instead this is being touted as a breakthrough in battery technology: 40 miles to the charge. "[A]nd that consumers are ready to adopt electrics like never before." Really? Is that why you have to subsidize these things at billions and billions and billions of dollars? "[C]onsider this declaration..."

Look at me. "[C]onsider this declaration: The electric car 'has long been recognized as the ideal solution' because it 'is cleaner and quieter' and 'much more economical.' That story was published by The New York Times on November 12, 1911." "The electric car 'has long been recognized as the ideal solution' because it 'is cleaner and quieter' and 'much more economical.'" The New York Times, 1911. "[T]he new Chevy Volt costs as much as a new Mercedes-Benz C350, consider this assessment by a believing reporter: 'Prices on electric cars will continue to drop until they are within reach of the average family.'" That's what a reporter said this week about the Volt: "Prices on electric cars will continue to drop until they are within reach of the average family." (interruption) That's what I said yesterday: If you've got 41 grand in a Mercedes C class... (interruption) Look, this is what's sad to me. I am not here to (sigh) rip into General Motors. At any rate, it is what it is. (interruption) Mercedes has a sunroof, yeah. (interruption) Don't... Don't... (interruption) Snerdley, just cool it. Cool it in there. Just cool it in there. Yes, it has real seats. It's got a bench seat. It's got... (interruption) Yeah. It's got headroom and leg room, yeah. (interruption) Just be quiet. Rob in Wichita, I do not want General Motors to fail. It's just the exact opposite. This is painful.